All Aboard!

Late last week federal and state officials were in Durham, NC to announce the award of $520 million to the state of North Carolina for improvements to the rail corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh to support the implementation of high-speed rail. North Carolina also received another $25 million from the rail line improvements from Raleigh north to Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia received $75 million for improvements between Richmond and Washington DC.  These improvements are all part of the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor Project.

This new federal investment represents a major leap forward in making high-speed rail a reality in North Carolina. According to state and federal officials, the project is expected to create or maintain 4,800 jobs in the state’s private sector.  For more information, see Governor Perdue’s press release and the high-speed rail fact sheet included with the release.

This new funding is part of $8 billion set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) reserved for high-speed rail projects across the nation.  Some of the other recipients include Illinois/Missouri, Florida and California.   This investment will fund nearly 30 rail line projects intended to improve rail speed and service between the largest cities in North Carolina – including the existing stop in Kannapolis.

What does this mean for our City?  Several things.

1. Kannapolis = Rail. Kannapolis has always been a “rail city.”  Since the onset of Cannon Mills at the beginning of the 20^th century, the railroad and the mill were critically dependent upon the other.  Kannapolis (as we know it) would not exist if it were not for the existence of the railroad.  Generations of Kannapolis residents have grown up with the railroad being the transportation and economic backbone of the community.  The further investment in rail improvements as announced last week continues to be important to Kannapolis and the surrounding communities.
2. Long Standing Local Support. This appreciation and support for rail travel, rail commerce and rail safety has never wavered locally.  About a decade ago, the Kannapolis City Council reached an agreement with the N.C. Department of Transportation Rail Division to support its “sealed corridor” program.  This effort aimed at significantly improving rail safety throughout the state.  This program involved closing a number of crossings in the community (Ebenezer Road, Plymouth Street, C Street, etc.) in an effort to reduce train/vehicle conflicts and to reduce travel time between Raleigh and Charlotte (and beyond).  The changes were painful and politically unpopular locally but the correct decisions were made.  The enticement to the local community was that several rail improvements would occur over time.  Some of the smaller, safety improvements have occurred, some have not.  However I strongly believe that the success in securing ARRA funding is a result of hard decisions made be entities like the Kannapolis City Council over the past decade or longer.
3. Rogers Lake Road Overpass? The Rogers Lake Road Overpass (formerly Universal Street) is priority number 1 on the rail project list for Kannapolis. With the City’s recent construction of the Rogers Lake Road extension to Kannapolis Parkway, this corridor has the potential to be a true east-west thoroughfare which is sorely lacking in our City.  The bridge is critical to this becoming a reality.  With help from our congressional delegation in Washington, we were successful in securing a $950,000 federal earmark for this proposed overpass (this occurred well before the high-speed rail funds were announced).  This funding will pay for engineering/design and environmental planning work on an overpass structure at this location. While it initially appears that no funding for this overpass is included in the $520 million ARRA plan for North Carolina, this is not finalized.  Regardless, it appears that both the State of North Carolina and the Federal Government are committed to a rebirth of passenger rail travel.  This likely means other funding opportunities will likely arise to help pay for this much needed bridge.  This intersection is among the most congested peak hour rail road crossings along the corridor. (NOTE: planned short-term improvements to this intersection are slated to begin this summer)
4. A New Train Station = State Commitment. The NCDOT Rail Division, the City of Kannapolis and Cabarrus County participated in the construction of the new Kannapolis Train Station which ensures that Kannapolis will remain a vital participant in passenger rail transportation for North Carolina and the eastern U.S. for many years to come.  Confirming this commitment, a new platform canopy for the Kannapolis station appears to have been included in the $520 million High-Speed Rail ARRA application.
5. NCRC and Increased Ridership. Perhaps most importantly, the high-speed rail initiative will ultimately create far more ridership options for Kannapolis residents and its workforce than currently exist.  Most notably, employees and visitors to the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) will be the big beneficiaries of high-speed rail due to the strong education and research link between the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill and Kannapolis.  Currently one of the daily trains from Raleigh (the Piedmont) arrives in Kannapolis around 9:30 AM and the return train to Raleigh leaves Kannapolis at around 6:00 PM.  The other daily train (the Carolinian) departs Kannapolis at about 8:00 AM and arrives in Raleigh about three hours later.  The return trip from Raleigh on the Carolinian departs around 4:50 PM and arrives in Kannapolis at about 7:45 PM.  Unfortunately the Carolinian originates in New York City and is sometimes late so it is a bit less reliable for those in Raleigh wanting to get back to Kannapolis/Charlotte.  However, the rail improvement plans include adding a mid-day train between Raleigh and Charlotte.   This mid-day train will allow for more flexibility for the visitor or worker at the NCRC.  For example an NCRC researcher can leave Kannapolis at 8 AM for a lunch meeting at a campus of one of the NCRC parent universities and then catch the new mid-day train back to the NCRC.  Presently, that researcher would have to wait until at least 4:50 PM to depart Raleigh – perhaps later if the train is delayed from the stops in NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC, etc.

Ridership has been steady in Kannapolis since the Train Station opened in 2004, but it has not seen any dramatic spikes in growth.  That all could change in the next several years. There are several factors I believe will contribute to increased ridership in Kannapolis over the next several years (some are unique to Kannapolis): (a) The Charlotte station moving from N. Tryon Street to downtown Charlotte (scheduled for 2012), which will make Kannapolis the “northeast Charlotte” station; (b) reducing the rail travel time from Raleigh to Charlotte closer to 2 hours (the ARRA funding will help get us there); (c) congestion on the interstates continuing to increase and outpace needed highway improvements (which is probably a given); and (d) the  mid-day train becoming operational which will offer lots of convenience and flexibility to the business traveler – most notably for the NCRC visitor and/or employee.

Assume for a moment that we do achieve two hour (or less) rail trips from Raleigh to Kannapolis.  It currently costs $46 round trip.  It now takes two and a half hours (assuming no traffic delays) by car.   Now assume gas is $4.00/gallon which is quite possible again.  Also factor in two hours of quiet time with your coffee and newspaper, or better yet, productive time; laptop with an air card and blackberry in hand….and the hidden benefit of you helping to improve our air quality through the use of mass transit.  You be the judge.

All in all, the ARRA funding for high-speed rail is very good for North Carolina, very good for the environment and very good for Kannapolis, the NCRC and the Charlotte region.  If there was ever a project where environmental stewardship and economic development meet – this might be it.